Music teachers in Mississippi’s southern division attended a music workshop on Friday in Picayune to pick up some extra skills.

The workshop was taught by Deanna Stark who has a doctoral degree in musicology, said Hancock Middle School music teacher Judy Turner.

The workshop is funded by Mississippi Music Education Association and is conducted annually. This year’s emphasis was on folk music, Turner said.

Between 45 and 50 teachers attended the day-long workshop where they participated in activities they can use in the classroom. In one exercise the teachers were asked to pick up an instrument and play along with Stark as she sang a variation of a popular holiday jingle.

Attending teachers came from schools in Ocean Springs, Jackson County and Picayune. Picayune school district teachers included Earl Fox, Cathy Henley, Pat Dawsey and Rachel Rutherford, Turner said. College students majoringin music and planning to teach from Gulf Coast Community College and William Carey University also attended the workshop.

Participants learned how to correlate music curriculum with state academic curriculum frameworks, Turner said.